2009 - Chevrolet Corvette on 2040-cars

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Zombie cars: Discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

2020 Chevy Trax spied sporting design cues from the new Blazer

We saw spy shots in August for what we thought was either a redesigned Chevrolet Trax or new GMC subcompact crossover. At the time we were leaning Chevy. But after this latest batch of spy shots taken near GM's proving grounds, we're now thinking this one is the Trax replacement and the other one was a GMC. For one, the thin row of LEDs looks remarkably similar to the 2019 Chevy Blazer's LED strip. The additional light slightly below that is similar to the Blazer as well, leading us to believe that the next Trax will have a Blazer-esque front end. At first glance, this vehicle looks slightly larger than today's Trax with a much brawnier shape than the current blob-like design. The rear roof cladding could be hiding the same sloped rear window with spoiler hangover we see on the Blazer. Circling back to the other small GM crossover we caught testing, this one doesn't have those Blazer elements. The curved windshield and sloping roof are like those of the GMC Terrain, as are the horizontal grille bars. By contrast, the above car has a straighter windshield and a roof shaped more like the Blazer. One element that does seem to diverge from the new Blazer are the taillights, but they don't exactly look production-ready anyway. If we're right about this being the next Trax (and we're pretty sure we are) then this looks to be a more distinctive vehicle than what it will replace. The mirrors have left their awkward spot on the doors, and it's shaping up to be a much sportier looking crossover as a whole. This vehicle will most likely end up being a 2020 model year car, and if so, we would expect to see undisguised photos of both it and the assumed GMC version next year. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2020 Chevrolet Trax spy shots Spy Photos Chevrolet GMC Crossover SUV Future Vehicles chevy trax

Has Chevrolet gotten the formula right with the Malibu?

Since the Malibu's return in 1997, there has been an internal issue with Chevrolet with getting the midsize sedan formula right in its own way. Let's be frank, the Malibu had a boring beginning as a midsize sedan in 1997. We got the dreadful sixth-generation Malibu in 2004 that brought us an SS model that really didn't deserve the SS badge on it. Hell, its saving grace was fleet sales. But the tides seemed to shift when the seventh-generation Malibu came on the scene in 2008. With the determination of making the Malibu more competitive with other cars in its class, a lot of hard work and effort was put into making the seventh-generation Malibu a timeless and well-crafted vehicle. As an owner of a 2012 Malibu 1LTZ, I have to say that Chevy has fully accomplished it. I love the nicely designed exterior, the interior was comfy enough for those long trips to work each and every day, and it was a very quiet car in my opinion. And its fuel economy was decent, not too bad. The New York Times in 2008 referred to it as "A super Accord, but from GM." In some comparisons, the Malibu was ranked higher than the Honda Accord and the Nissan Altima. It also received the North American Car of the Year award. Love it or hate it, the seventh-gen Malibu was an overall big success for GM. But then in 2013 we got the eighth-generation Malibu. GM gave it a botched release, releasing an Eco model first (that was later discontinued), then later in the year GM released the regular Malibu models. Shifting to a new platform didn't help it either. Even though it separated it further from the Impala, which was built on the same platform as the last-gen Malibu, the shrinkage in legroom, its OK design language, and a poorly crafted interior helped contribute to its overall lackluster sales performance. Not to mention the cars in its class got 10x better than the Malibu as well. Just 18 months after the 2013 Malibu went on sale it received a mild refresh to try to help its OK design, but it didn't help at all. The fate of the eighth-gen Malibu was sealed early on. But wait, a new light came from GM early last year. It came in the form of the ninth-generation Malibu. I have to say, when the curtain came off of it last year, a huge sigh of relief came from me. To me it seemed that Chevrolet took that determination it had in crafting the seventh-gen Malibu and increased it this time around.